


Reverse-Changeling

by DuchessRhea



Category: NU'EST
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-03
Updated: 2019-08-03
Packaged: 2020-07-29 20:53:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,846
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20088607
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DuchessRhea/pseuds/DuchessRhea
Summary: For as long as Choi Minki could remember, his family lived by a single rule: be asleep by midnight. This wasn't a hard rule for him to follow; he was never the type to go out partying, preferring to stay home and sleep.However, on the eve of his 18th birthday, he decided to defy that rule. After all, one only became an adult once, right? He figured staying up one night couldn't do any harm.Little did he know that this decision would alter the course of his life forever.Thrust into a world he only thought existed in fairy tales, he is forced to discover who he is, what he is, and where he truly belongs.





	Reverse-Changeling

**Author's Note:**

> This is an entry for a contest on AFF, but I figured I'd go ahead and post it here as well, so that it can have a (hopefully) wider audience. Enjoy!

A figure darted out from the shadows, peering from side to side. Seeing that there was nothing in sight, the figure motioned behind them, and another figure stepped from the shadows. This figure glanced behind them at the ring of trees they had emerged from, a gleeful smirk coming to their face. It was just reaching dawn, thin tendrils of color slowly making their way along the horizon, and soon any trace of them would disappear along with the night as the sun rose. The first had a bag strapped to their back, long, thin shapes barely visible through the clothes. The second also had a bag, but it was much bulkier, and the top was open, clearly intentional.

The dirt road that they had emerged onto was still damp, it having rained just hours before, so they both took care to cover their tracks as they followed it until it ran into a larger, cement road. It wasn’t long before they reached the first signs of civilization: a bus stop. They stood at the bus stop for no longer than three minutes before a van pulled up to the stop. Both jumped in, and it rolled away, taking away any signs that someone had passed through the area beyond the subtle smell of gasoline.

In the distance, if one listened carefully and had the ears to hear, an angry wail could be heard coming from the forest.

_One year later_

“Hyori, he needs to be put to sleep,” Sungwoo hissed urgently to his sister, who was carrying a wailing infant boy.

“Well do you want to hold him and make him shut up instead? I’m sure it would make GREAT practice for your future family,” the woman bit back.

Sungwoo let out a huff. “Don’t bring up Sunja, it’s already hard enough explaining to her why we’re raising a kid between us.” Sunja was his girlfriend of four years now, and he was ready to propose.

Hyori, on the other hand, had no such ties. She’d maintained that the single life was the best life, and she was determined to live it to the fullest. However, raising a child with her brother had not been something she’d counted on.

“You already told her why we’re raising Minki instead of his parents, so if she doesn’t like that, then maybe it’s time to rethink things?” she said, an eyebrow raised in question. She’d never had a good opinion of Sunja, but that was more because she barely knew the woman her brother was dating.

“She’ll be fine, stop pestering me,” he replied sharply. The baby’s cries had died down, but he was clearly still awake, with no intention of sleeping anytime soon.

“Why isn’t he going to sleep? It’s almost midnight, he’s always tired himself out before this,” Hyori muttered, rocking the infant and patting him, hoping to lull him to sleep.

At 11:59pm, Hyori gently laid the child into his crib, fast asleep. Hyori looked over at Sungwoo in relief. As the clock struck midnight, the vague sound of a whistle drifted into the air. Both siblings glanced at the window, their expressions darkening. It had been a close call.

_Five years later_

“Choi Minki, bedtime, turn off the TV!” a female voice called out. The seven-year-old looked up from the TV, pouting.

“But it’s only 8pm! I’m not tired at all!” the boy complained, but obediently turned off the TV and looked back at his aunt.

“That’s why you have your warm milk to drink, so that it can help you sleep,” she said, leading him to the kitchen.

“Aunt Sunja, I’m too old for milk! I’m not a baby!” he exclaimed. He was at that age where he refused to do anything he was told to, and frankly, it was getting on Sunja’s nerves. Then again, her pregnancy was also making her mood swings vicious these days

“Don’t make me get your aunt Hyori,” she threatened. Minki immediately stopped whining. While Aunt Hyori was his favorite person in the whole wide world, she was also really scary when she got mad. He obediently drank his milk and rushed up the stairs to his room.

Aunt Sunja had married Uncle Sungwoo about three years ago, but from what Aunt Hyori always said, they’d waited to have kids because they were already raising Minki himself. To this, Minki always asked, “But I thought you were raising me, Aunt Hyori?” to which she would reply, “We’re all raising you, sweets. Uncle Sungwoo and I just happen to have a job that takes us out of town a lot, so Aunt Sunja gets to be with you more.”

Whenever he asked about his parents, Aunt Hyori’s face would become sad. “They weren’t the best people in the world, but they loved you very much. If it hadn’t been for the accident…” That’s usually as far as she got before she choked up, and Minki never liked it when his strong Aunt Hyori cried, so he’d hurriedly pat her on the back and tell her nevermind. Some days she would go into more detail about his mother, hers and Sungwoo’s older sister, and he loved hearing the stories of when they were kids.

Minki lay in bed, staring at the fake stars plastered on his ceiling and reminiscing on some of these stories. Two hours passed and he still hadn’t been able to fall asleep, so he got out of bed and crept down the stairs to the kitchen. To his surprise, he found his favorite aunt sitting at the table.

“Aunt Hyori!” he exclaimed, said woman startling at the sudden voice.

“Minki! What are you doing up? Bedtime was ages ago!” she exclaimed.

“I can’t sleep,” he muttered, sitting down in the chair next to her.

Hyori studied the boy before standing up. “You know what? I’m going to give you my super secret potion just this once so that you can go to sleep,” she said, moving to the cabinet. She grabbed a bottle from a high shelf and then grabbed the jug of milk from the fridge. Pouring half a cup of milk, she also pour some of the contents of the bottle into it as well.

“The potion doesn’t taste very good, so hopefully the milk will cover it up, okay?” she told him. He nodded eagerly, excited to try this potion.

He was out like a light within minutes. Hyori sighed, looked at the bottle on the counter. It seems that Sunja had forgotten to put the sleeping medicine into his milk tonight. Ever since he had turned five, it had become harder and harder to get Minki to go to sleep, so they had taken to using sleeping medicines to force him to sleep. Nothing good would come of him staying up too late.

Hyori picked up the boy, grunting at the weight, and slowly carried him back up to his room.

_Ten years later_

Minki stared at the clock. In ten minutes he would turn 18. In ten minutes he would officially be an adult. He was nervous, as he wasn’t actually supposed to be awake.

His entire life his family had enforced a strict 10pm lights out and bedtime for the whole family, and it was something he had abided by for as long as he could remember. Yes, it meant that he wasn’t allowed to go out partying with his friends, something that had brought him a lot of questions from said friends, but at the same time, he never really found appeal in partying and gladly took the excuse of a curfew to avoid going. He was nothing if not a homebody who enjoyed staying at home more than going out. This conflicted with his outgoing personality and circle of friends who adored late-night parties and social events. He was admittedly quite popular at his high school, something that came with having both good looks and a wealthy family.

This particular night his friends had been bugging him to go out with them, since it was his birthday the next day. In particular, they wanted him to go to a house party that was being held by the most recent arrivals to his neighborhood, a trio of girls from a relatively popular idol group. He couldn’t recall their name, other than it being something that had to do with candy and sweets. He really couldn’t be bothered, but his two closest friends, Minhyun and Baekho, were obsessed with them, and had jumped at the opportunity to meet them. So tonight they were at a party with celebrities, while Minki lay in his bed staring at the clock.

Both Uncle Sungwoo and Aunt Hyori had made their rounds checking in on him throughout the night, and he’d pretended to sleep both times. He suspected they did this every night, he just wasn’t awake to see it. It made him wonder why they were so strict about the curfew. Were they hiding something?

Either way, he would find out tonight. He wanted to be awake for when he turned 18, and this was the only way that would happen.

Minki watched his clock change from 11:58 to 11:59, excitement keeping him wide awake. The last minute flew by quickly, and the clock changed to 12:00am. He let out a breath, smiling in victory.

“Happy birthday,” he whispered to himself. “Welcome to adulthoo-”

He was cut off by a strange noise coming from outside the house. Curious, he sat up, listening for the sound.

_Fweeeee fwoo fweeeee fwoo fwoo fweeeee fweeeee fwoooooooo~_

It was an odd whistle sound that seemed to carry a tune. Intrigued, Minki went to the window to look out. Strangely, there was nothing outside that would have produced the sound. The garden his room overlooked was empty of anyone.

_Fweeeee fwoo fweeeee fwoo fwoo fweeeee fweeeee fwoooooooo~_

The sound appeared again, and he searched the entire garden again, to no avail. Frowning, he turned back to his bed, deciding to forget the unusual occurrence.

_Fweeeee fwoo fweeeee fwoo fwoo fweeeee fweeeee fwoooooooo~_

He had just reached his bed when suddenly a sharp pain pierced through his chest. Gasping in pain, he collapsed on the bed, clutching his chest.

_Fwoo fwoo fweeeee fwoo fwoo fweeeee fwoo fwoo fweeeeeeeeeee~_

The tune started again, but it sounded different from the last three times it had happened, and the pain in Minki’s chest suddenly disappeared. Suddenly able to regain his breath, he staggered out of his room and down the stairs. Something was pulling him to go outside, and he found that he couldn’t resist.

He heard a commotion coming from behind him, the sound of doors violently opening and feet pounding down the stairs. He was vaguely aware of voices calling out his name in fear, but he only looked back briefly, just enough to see the fearful expressions Uncle Sungwoo and Aunt Hyori’s faces, quickly morphing into anger.

And then he was out the door, running towards whatever seemed to be calling out to him.


End file.
